I hope everyone has had a nice and peaceful weekend so far. Do you have active babes this time? DS was pretty quiet actually, more of a roll and stretcher. This one goes NU-UTS. I'm actually afraid he's going to separate my abs!

Today is my birthday! Our church is having a service at the park today, so we're all taking food and hanging out. I like to say it is in honor of my birthday, but I think they'd do it anyway.

It's going to rain here today....sunny California seems to have missed the note on the heat wave going around!!
I'm doing my talk to the OWL group today.....I'm pretty nervous! I'll let you guys know how it goes....

This baby is more mellow than my other 2 I think. I get kicks and nudges and such everyday but no crazy bruised ribs yet that I remember with the other 2. Maybe I'm just not at that stage yet? I'll be 33 weeks on Tuesday.

mama to August May (8/06) Liberty Kiana (7/08) and Calliope Rose (6/15/10)

All of my children have been crazy in utero (and afterward, actually. ) This one is certainly no exception . This morning I woke up and my whole abdomen HURT. I was pushing on where it hurt and realized that the baby was pushing out so hard that it was causing a ton of pain. I've been having times where the rolling around makes me nauseous, too.

My ILs were here for a week from last Saturday until yesterday. After they left, the kids and I went to my friend's dd's 8th grade basketball tournament about an hour away. Talk about an exhausting day. The whining. Gah! Today is just a lazy around the house day. I have a list of a bunch of cleaning that I want to do. Maybe it will get done, maybe not.

I have my last day of work for H&R Block on Tuesday. The end of tax season is always so bittersweet. I really like the people I work with, but it will be nice to stop dealing with the rules that come down from management.

I have an interview for a part-time administrative job at a hospital. My brother works there and he said that the lady who does the hiring tends to shy away from hiring pregnant women since they've had some who have gone through the training, gone on maternity leave, and then not come back. I don't plan to do that. So I'm looking for something that will make me look more "just fat" than obviously pregnant. I think I can pull it off.

I'm back. Just got kicked hard in the cervix in front of DH, and remembered I said I'd write more. LOL Babies should not be allowed to DO that!! OUCH!!

First I want to say Good Luck, Mamamoose with the sex talk. I get so nervous before I have to speak in public. And Good Luck, Tiffanoodle with the job interview and trying to look "just fat". That actually sounds fun. Hope you don't waddle like I do.

This baby is so active, she drives me a little nuts sometimes. If I'm sitting or standing still, she virtually never stops moving. I feel her wiggling around at night, too when I wake up to pee. Can't wait to have her out of me! Yet I'm still really enjoying being pregnant, esp now that DH is back and we are doing so well. He's been quite the handyman lately and is helping me get the baby room ready.

I'm 31 wks today and also not getting much done around the house. Part of it is I don't care that much and part is enjoyment of relaxing w/DH and/or putting my feet up when they're swelling, and part of it is I have been pretty busy with appts and events. I've recently joined a ladies's Bible study that meets on Thurs mornings, and just started allowing nursing moms and infants from birth on up to come. They used to only accommodate ages 2-5. The group takes the summer off, so that will be nice, and they're only 4 blocks from my house.

I also recently joined a mostly crunchy moms' group in my area, and have gone to one event so far that was for pregos & new moms. It was great talking about baby wearing and cloth diapers! We're having a pedicure date next week (yay because those toes get farther away every day!). They seem like a great group of ladies, and I'm glad I joined because in Dec DH will be leaving for about a year so I'll need to keep busy.

Today I hit Goodwill and picked up an adorable little wooden rocking chair for $8. I am loving having someone special to decorate for. Baby shower is next week, and so far only 3 people have bought from either of my registries. That's okay because I told everyone I really prefer 2nd hand things anyway. I like that because then it's more of a surprise for me and less of a burden for them, but at least they know what kind of things I'm after. I also found out WIC gives away breast pumps here so if I need one, I don't have to buy one. They said they measure people so you get one that really fits.

The weather has been perfect here for a few days now, and everyone is out walking dogs, riding bikes and motorcycles.

LOL about the waddling. Yeah, I'll have to practice bending my knees and take it easy the day before so my pelvis doesn't hurt so bad. My dh, being every helpful, suggested that I just not let her see me from the side. If I was able to make it so she could only see me standing up head-on, I don't really look pregnant, even with tight clothes on.

So happy things are going well with you and your dh! And the moms group sounds great! I'm kind of a recluse, but would love to find a group like that around here. It's never really worked that I "click" with anyone around here. I didn't really feel comfortable with the moms' group around here that I tried a few years ago. Didn't feel like I could really have a conversation with anyone and they were definitely more of the "What to Expect..." type people.

And I'm giggling over the breast pump measuring. I guess I didn't know there were different sizes.

And good luck at the interview Tiffanoodle. I so need to get a job, but really stopped trying a few months back b/c I do look pregnant and not just fat. And unfortunately, in my career (hairstylist), people have a tendency to not hire pregnant women due to the fact that most can't stand up for the long shifts and will flake out on their scheduled hours. But it would be nice to work right now. LOL

Bannabee: Good luck on your talk. I did one of those ten years ago when I was pregnant with my first daughter (the one I placed up for adoption, b/c I was only 16). It was pretty tough, but it was worth it. Ours was a "True Love Waits" weekend.

Merrick moves a lot, but not quite like his sisters did in utero. Since I carried both girls higher, especially DD #2, they liked to stay and stretch into my ribs. Merrick just likes to roll and kick/ punch me in the crotch. OW. Plus he really likes to push his butt out to one side or the other. The other day when I had to be monitored at L&D, he kept moving from the monitor b/c he doesn't like to be prodded at. LOL He is going to be a handful and so different from his brother (who is very well behaved and obedient).

I'm still recovering from my fall on Friday. My foot still hurts, but not as bad today. Yesterday was more difficult for me, b/c I was so worn out from all the pain and for some reason, my stomach hurt, but not in the baby way. I don't know. I think Merrick is just getting too big and has officially shoved every single one of my organs completely to the sides. Not comfy. Since DF wants to keep me close to his side for awhile, I will now be helping keep him and his boss (the director) organized on their meetings and what they need to do during pre-pro, at least for a while. It would be nice if I got paid, but alas, I am not.

We had a pretty crazy week..Kids were on spring break and I started a new job. My 7yr old had a cold which ended in a outter ear infection in 1 ear and an inner ear infection in the other..so sleep is on my wish-list now that he is starting to feel better. DD has her final round of evaluations on wednesday, OT & IQ testing...and we should get the results of everything next monday. I will be so glad when all that is over and we can at least get some answers and a plan of action together on where to go from there.

As for the pregnancy, well I am eating like i'm eating for 12 and really I am just tired..but I think thats more because of everything going on here. Personaly I think there should be a law that every mamma to be should get a free vacation for the last month of her pregnancy! I could do with a couple weeks on the beach with nothing to worry about except the ice in my juice! But I am day-dreaming again LOL

Happy Belated Birthday to Burnindinner, and Tiffanoodle I was always able to hide my belly with a bit of an oversized sweater. My last interview I was 6 months with DS and looked like I was going to pop, the HR people never said a word. If it does come up, I'd prob be a smart ass and say "well I may be pregnant but that doesnt mean I don't need an income"..but then again I am a natural born smart ass

Ok gotta fly and get this day going!

"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."- Kurt Cobain

Tiffanoodle, it seems a little illegal to not hire someone simply because of pregnancy. When would the job start, you're getting pretty close to d-day! When is the interview?

How did the talk go?

I am a hormonal wreck. I've been feeling sad and discouraged that I am not able to keep up with my toddler like I want to. Plus the house irritates me, though I suspect it's no worse than it is when I'm not pregnant, I just happen to notice right now. I am also tired, and not eating quite enough. Nothing sounds good.

So it's sounding like everyone's kids are completely freaking out right now. All the toddlers I know are having really disrupted sleep and major tantrums. Is it the weather? The season change? Our pollen is really bad here, I blame that.

We all went for a hike yesterday and worked in the garden. Got all the neighborhood cat poop out. gross!! Our pollen count is so high that I thought I was going to die! I didn't really have allergies until we moved to Oregon. It would be as bad if I didn't pee my pants every time I sneezed! lol

For this pregnancy this baby is always moving. I don't remember feeling baby move around when I was walking. Yesterday when we were on our hike the baby totally kicked me in the ribs with a booty bunt to the liver. lol It is crazy when you can see the LO's movements when walking.

Today I have tons of cleaning and got to get the kids homeschooling done. I would rather just sit and relax while reading my book.

My 4 year old is in meltdown mode today. To the point i wish i she was in preschool so i could have a break. Which makes me feel guilty and horrible. I think spring is always hard for her though, she has wicked bad allergies like her father. But today is beyond the rest. She woke up insistant that we get a crib TODAY. Why? Because the baby CANNOT slobber all over 'her' bed and sleep with us. First sign of jealousy as she's been ecstatic about having a little brother or sister. I'm interested to see how it plays out since we share a family bed.

Everyone sounds so busy. I cannot even contemplate getting a job at this stage in the pregnancy. I feel so lazy and exhausted and the SPD pain makes moving around so painful. You ladies kick butt!

Tiffanoodle, it seems a little illegal to not hire someone simply because of pregnancy. When would the job start, you're getting pretty close to d-day! When is the interview?

Oh, totally illegal. Sadly, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. They can come up with a million reasons not to hire me, even if I know the real reason is pregnancy. The only reason I know she's like this is because of my "insider info". I'm not sure when the job would start. Probably soon, though. I applied March 15, so it's been sitting there awhile. The interview is this Friday. I'm prepared to tell her I'll start Monday. I still have over 11 weeks, since I'm not due until the last day of June.

Anyone else feeling, annoyed? I am annoyed 90% of the time. Maybe it's the fact that i'm getting no sleep, or i'm just too hormonal. With my last 3 pregnancies i was so even keel and zen and calm. Not so this time!

Today i got annoyed at an old bff. This will be my 3rd homebirth and she acted completely surprised that i was doing another one. And my dad irked me the other day when he asked why in the world we would pay money to birth at home when we can birth at the hossy for free (again he knows we've done this 2 times now). Funny thing is i know neither were meaning it rudely, just plain questions. Gah, i cannot wait to be OFF this hormonal roller coaster lol.

Yeah that would be me..I am ALWAYS complaining about something! I am not mean or anything just every little thing is ticking me off these days. I am annoyed with my dad for being his typical self, I am annoyed with my dh for sleeping in, I am annoyed with my kids for not letting me sleep in..heck I am even annoyed with the sun because its reflecting on my moniter..I could go on and on, but I'll shut up now

"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."- Kurt Cobain

Yeah that would be me..I am ALWAYS complaining about something! I am not mean or anything just every little thing is ticking me off these days. I am annoyed with my dad for being his typical self, I am annoyed with my dh for sleeping in, I am annoyed with my kids for not letting me sleep in..heck I am even annoyed with the sun because its reflecting on my moniter..I could go on and on, but I'll shut up now

This is how i feel lol. I feel like a major grumpy pants. I think it is one of the only main reasons im looking forward to NOT being pregnant . . . my poor kids and dh will have their normal mom/wife return.

I am mega grumpy too and taking it out on the world! On Saturday we took DD swimming and after we got out i was standing waiting for a family changing cubicle (32.5weeks pregnant + uncooperative 4yo to dress = not happening in the tiny wardrobe-sized ones!) and they were all busy. After a few mins 3 doors opened and 3 young men, of around 18-20 years, came out joking about how tight their shorts were over their giant manhood (frikking seriously!?). Well i flipped! "Are you a FAMILY!? Or can't you READ?" i demanded of the nearest one. They all looked at their feet. "Well, DD, now these big idiots have brought their oversize heads out of the FAMILY cubicles we can finally get dry and warm up again." i announced and flounced into the nearest cubicle - i noted that one of them had clingfilm wrapped round a cast (on his broken arm) and snapped "that'll never work, you'll be in A&E all evening getting a new one!" as i slammed the door. Oh dear! I kind of think they deserved it though, i HATE it when people abuse provisions for those who need them more. And yesterday a telesales person called to ask me a million inane questions about a service i don't want. I told him i didn't want to switch phone providers. He said "but what's your monthly bill?" i replied that i didn't want to switch providers. He said "but i could save you SOOOOO much money." I said yes, but i don't want to switch providers. He said didn't i want to know how much i could save and i yelled "Oh my God, can you NOT hear me!?" and slammed the phone down.

What's making me worse (major TMI here, so you've been warned) is that my sex life is ruined. I have so much blood-flow/engorgement to my vulva/vagina that the amount of stimulation i need to orgasm is just painful right now. And i usually have multiple orgasms multiple times a week so i'm not a happy bunny. DH is being very sweet and we're still intimate, which helps a lot, but not like my normal sex life does! Roll on birth, i can't wait to be normal again!

I have pretty much been a grump ass the last two weeks. I think most of it is the fact the weather keeps playing games. It will be sunny and beautiful for a few days then back to the gloom and rain! I am soooo ready for the sun to stick around. The kids are so sick of being stuck inside too. Whaaaaaaaa!

Sounds like a few of us are very unhappy campers. Hugs to everyone. I totally understand the intimacy department. Sex is the last thing on my bodies mind (though i am wanting it soooo badly), but the SPD makes it feel as if i'm going to break so its a major no go. Sigh.

I spent ALL night throwing up. I was too tired to cook so made DH pick up some Wendy's. Been paying for it ever since. Blah

Hey everyone...I hope you are having a better day! I go back and forth. I have days where I am cranky, tired and uncomfortable...especially when this little guy is transverse or breech, which he changes often. In fact, during my 3d/4d u/s he went from breech to transverse to vertex in less than an hour! Lots of space in there evidently! LOL

We got a CD of pictures, DVD of the whole u/s with our music added, and 4 printed photos yesterday at our u/s. Baby boy is no question a boy LOL and he is already chubby cheeked and adorable! He was all curled up for awhile with his feet, hands and head all curled up in a ball. Most of the u/s he was sucking on his umbilical cord! LOL

Yeah, my MW the other day told me I was "cleared" for homebirth around May 6th or 7th-ish, I think my jaw dropped to the floor because um, that's like 3 weeks or less from now! Not that I'd go that early but it puts that little rush on things!!!
Speaking of, I have good news on two fronts that I was stressed over! My friend who rents the birth tub offered to rent it to me for just the filter cost, which she found for 20 dollars!! I'm still going to try to pay her some extra for her time/effort/etc. and bake her some muffins or something, but seriously that is a HUGE weight off my back! My MW and I were going over all the birth prefrence stuff at my last visit (you know, like, are you ok with vag. exams in labor, do you want to give the baby vit. K, etc.), I told her she's not allowed to let me get out of that tub That's my birthplan, make sure I give birth in that big giant tub that we pulled all the strings in the world to get here!

Also, my BP has been good. My dad let me borrow his BP monitor and I take it a few times a week at home, it's been really good. It was even ok at the MW visit the other day, though a little higher than at home. So, now I need some advice. The big "plan" all along was when my BP starts creeping up we're going to do whatever we can to keep it under the cutoff, and then at 36/37 weeks we're going to nudge baby to come early. Meaning, stretch and sweep with EPO, taking cotton root tincture, and if it gets over 140/90 we'll try stronger herbs, and if baby is favorable and I'd otherwise risk out we'd try breaking my water at home and get things started that way. Which freaked me out because my babies cook past 40 weeks, and I don't want to mess with nature, BUT I accepted that plan of action because if I'm getting 150/110 like last time it's this or I'm hospital bound where I'll be getting WAY more intervention than that!
But now we're in this situation where I'm not getting high readings at all. I'm getting very normal ones. And I'm almost 34 weeks. So now what? She said we can throw that plan out the window totally and wait for my body. OR we can do just the stretch/sweeps at 37 weeks just in case my BP shoots up in the last weeks. I almost want to say no, just leave things alone, but I'm worried that my BP thing is related to the heat, and it's going to get hot in May. I've had an August baby and a July baby with BP issues that start in May each time. It could be coincidence that that's just the end of pregnancy for me, or it could totally be that once we hit a heat wave and I start getting swelling, my BP starts going up. And I know we can always wait and see if that happens, but then there's less time to work with if I'm 39 weeks and suddenly getting really high readings....whereas if I consent to stretch/sweep at 37, my body is much more favorable to going into labor (or being helped along with herbs) when/if it jumps up, and might not even get to that point of further intervention. I decided to take the GBS test, because if I'm + then that answers things, I'm not going to mess around in there. But if I'm not then I really don't know....thoughts anyone??

mama to August May (8/06) Liberty Kiana (7/08) and Calliope Rose (6/15/10)

Finally had time to read through all the posts... and I just have to laugh. Everyone is so grumpy and tired and irritable and annoyed and uncomfortable. It like reading about ME!

My house also is irritating me. Its always too dusty, too hairy, too cluttered, too something. DH stays in the bathroom too long (I think I'm going to start pretending I'm using the toilet and take a book and blanket in with me to sit on the floor), the kids are loud and messy, the pets have the nerve to be shedding their winter coats.

I'm exhausted all the time. I want to start nesting for baby and getting his room ready, but that takes effort, help from DH, TIME and MONEY... which all seem to not happen.

I did find it interesting that many of you are more uncomfortable with the baby transverse. Caleb is always transverse and curled up in a super tight little ball. And yes, it can be discomforting.

As for DTD (sigh) between my SPD and the now big belly, my position of choice is no longer a possibility. DH and I need to get creative - but am I up for creative?

Still... the days when I'm feeling pretty comfy and not too sleepy and I can just sit and talk to baby boy, rub my tummy and think about how much fun this is going to be to do again with DH... it is SO worth it! (... yet I'm still tired.)

On a more exciting note: I ordered a shipment of CDs for baby boy this week. Hopefully they'll arrive today or tomorrow. Can't wait to see them! My Shower is also scheduled for May 8th!